It is typical for a data processing system to require a certain amount of initial setup to be performed before the system can be utilized. For example, a typically operating system requires basic information such as: language preferences, keyboard type, system administrator's account and password, current date and time, network address, hostname, the software license key for the operating system, and the optional services that shall be turned on when the operating system starts, such as email, printer, and web services.
It is typical for a computer system to require that this type of configuration information be provided before the system can be used. The process for providing this information usually requires a person to enter the information using a keyboard at the time the computer system is booted for the first time after the operating system is installed (or reinstalled). Once the operating system is configured, subsequent rebooting of the system will not require this data, as the setup information has already been applied.
The process of supplying this configuration information can be tedious and duplicative, especially when managing a large number of computers. Further, installation of an operating system on one computer may need to be performed repeatedly. For example, it may be desirable to reinitialize a computer to have a fresh installation of an operating system after certain uses of the computer. Further, when configuring a large number of computers, similar data often need to be provided to each of the computers for the initial setup.
Thus, many system administrators would prefer to use an automated method to install the operating system. For example, Red Hat Linux provides a kickstart installation method for the automated installation. Kickstart installation uses a kickstart file which is a simple text file containing a list of items that provides the information required for the installation. The kickstart file may be created by editing a copy of an existing kickstart file using a text editor, by running a Kickstart Configurator application, or by writing it from scratch. The administrator specifies the location of the kickstart file (e.g., a boot diskette, a Boot CD-ROM, a Network File System (NFS) volume, a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) directory, or a local file system) to begin a kickstart installation. The installation program uses the information in the kickstart file at the specified location to complete the installation without further user input.